


Senior Project

by ms_boredom



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, mention of suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25363300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ms_boredom/pseuds/ms_boredom
Summary: Josie Saltzman used to be a big deal, that is until her mom died. Now she's a nobody, a lowly musician. Until she gets recognized. Will she get the girl of her dreams? And more importantly, will she overcome the trauma of her mom's death?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Kudos: 32





	Senior Project

**Author's Note:**

> This is all written in the POV of Josie. At the beginning of this story she is a sophomore in high school. Enjoy!

One player. 4 strings. Multiple different emotions and sounds. It’s raw. Beautiful. 4 strings is all you need to play something angelic. At least that’s what mom said. Josette Lauglin, one of the best violin soloists of her generation. Was being the operative term. Everything beautiful eventually has to come to an end. Once my mother died, I couldn’t bring myself to play the violin, for the fear of not being good enough or disappointment or the pressure of upholding her legacy, I don’t know. My mother, one of the great violin players, and me, some lowly piano player. Untalented, unfocused, not worth the time or effort, a disappointment to her mother, at least that’s what all the judges and teachers say. I guess once you lose your purpose to play, you also lose your will to play. Now look at me, I used to be a good violinist, with my mom’s guidance and love, a big deal in the music community, now I’m a loner, a nobody, a disappointment. I guess the judge’s words really have a way of getting to you.

I’ve been working on something, a musical. I know, weird. Musicals have always been a favorite of mine, not only beautifully sounding, but well constructed. This specific musical is about a girl, who lost someone important to her through suicide, her brother, which led to the girl herself self-isolating and thinking about suicide. A very good description of my life might I add, not the whole suicide part, but the self-isolation part, I lost a lot when Mom died. It was like a chunk of my heart had been torn out, sure Dad and Lizzie were there for me, but it wasn’t the same. Dad was able to drink his sorrows away, And Lizzie? Well Lizzie always connected with Caroline more, Mom’s best friend. 

I’ve probably cried writing this, the songs and script, more times than I can count, had so many mental breakdowns, so many nights alone in my room spacing out. Eventually, a girl, her brother’s best friend, finds the main character alone in her room. I also based that character on someone too, Hope Mikaelson, my crush, everyone’s crush really, she’s also part of drama club, quite the actress, and singer. She has a boyfriend and the people’s love, but she seems sad, broken, almost depressed. I guess in a way I’m writing this for her, to show her that for love or happiness, it’s worth it to go through every obstacle because there is always going to be someone there cheering her on, and there is always a reason to keep going. This girl in my musical helps the main character find purpose, and they fall in love in the process. A perfect cliche. 

The more I write, the more I realize how alone I am, how much the loss of my mother has affected me, and it has been two years. But, this musical is my little secret, my way of processing. And in ways it helped me a lot, in others it only helped me dig myself further down my hole of self-doubt and depression. But, at least it’s given me a purpose and gives me a reason to put more passion into the piano, guitar, and violin. Did I mention this musical is also heavily music based?

\----------- TIME JUMP: Senior year -----------

Shoot, where’d it go. I had it in my bag. Did I lose it? I was working on it an hour ago. “Josette Olivia Saltzman please go to the counselor’s office” it said over the intercom. It’s no longer my secret, is it. I shuffle over to Ms. Tig’s office and had to endure the laughter of the other students in the hallway.

“Ms. Tig?”

“Josie. Come in, please, take a seat”

I sit down, dreading what is to come.

“I see you haven’t chosen a senior project yet. And I found this on one of the desks in the library and read it, it’s beautifully written.” She hands me the script I wrote.

“Um … thanks, I guess.” It isn’t my secret anymore.

“I was thinking that you could make this your senior project, we could have the drama department cast the characters.”

“WHAT?!” Shoot, did I say that out loud? “Sorry, I meant, this was supposed to just be for me, I wasn’t planning on showing it to anyone. It’s terrible, The songs aren’t thought out properly. I would get a terrible grade, no one would want to watch it.”

“Josie, calm down. This is a piece of art, I’ve already shown it to the drama teacher, he thought it was written by a professional. He even agreed to do the musical, casting you as the main character. He’s made copies and is giving it to his class.”

“I’m not getting out of this am I?”

“Nope. I see next period is your free period. From now on you are going to join the drama class during this period or you will be working on your musical in the library. No excuses.”

“Fine”

I go over to the drama room, and immediately eyes started looking in my direction. It didn’t help that I am a loner, or late.

“Josie right?”

“Um … y-yea-yeah”

“No need to be shy. Class this is Josie Saltzman, also known as the person who wrote the script in your hands. She will be cast as the main character. Josie, you can take a seat next to Hope”

AN: I’m lazy, therefore I’m going to skip through the casting. You can use your imagination to figure out what happened during the time where Hope and Josie sit next to each other. All you need to know is that Hope was cast as Josie’s love interest. Not much different than the truth.

\----------- TIME JUMP: Rehearsal -----------

The musical starts off with a violin solo, by yours truly. I haven’t played in front of people in years, there are so many different possibilities of how I could mess up going through my head. I start playing and images of my mom come flooding back to me and I start having a breakdown. I can hear the laughter of the drama kids. Mr. Williams, the drama teacher, pulls me to the side for some privacy.

“I haven’t played the violin since my mom died.”

“It’s ok Josie. No one is judging you. You are talented, you just need the extra help. When you go out there again, imagine that you are the only one on that stage. Imagine that you are playing for your mom, one last time. The violin is an extension of your body, you play with all your might and emotion. Show those kids that you are wonderful”

I go back on stage, thinking of my mom. I played my composition, flawlessly might I add. The notes ring with the emotion of heartbreak and love, showing how broken you are when you lose a loved one. How I felt when my mom died, music really has a way of connecting people. I finish the piece and I get a standing ovation from the other students. I did it, I really did it.

“Beautiful Josie, absolutely stunning. I knew you had it in you. Alright, next scene”

\----------- TIME JUMP: Performance Time -----------

I’m nervous as heck. The auditorium was way more full than I had anticipated, I had also been informed that there were Juilliard scouts in the audience. I don’t even know why I’m nervous, I never considered pursuing the arts.

AN: I’m lazy, so I shall skip through until the end. Josie played wonderfully, no one messed up, it was perfect, some of the audience in tears. Now to the end scene.

The musical ends with a kiss, a kiss I’ve been dreading, we never rehearsed it because I didn’t want to, which was a fault on my end because I’ve never kissed anyone. Before I know it, the musical is done, a standing ovation. We do the end and then we all go backstage. The scouts are talking to Mr. Williams, then all three of them start heading my direction. Oh no. 

“Hi Josie, these are Ms. Wallice and Mr. Jordan, they are the scouts from Julliard.”

“I’m told you wrote this entire musical, is that right young lady?”

“Yeah”

“Well it was extraordinary. We’ve seen a lot of things, but that was something we’ve never seen before. We would like to offer you a full ride scholarship to Juilliard”

“Really? I’ve never really thought about the arts as a future though, that kinda died with my mom”

“Your mother?”

“Josette Laughlin”

“Such a talented soul, so sad she was taken from us so young. It is your choice, we aren’t going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. But you have raw talent and it would be a shame if it went down the drain.”

“I’ll think about it”

\----------- TIME JUMP: The summer ----------- 

AN: Josie chose to go to Juilliard, Hope is also going to Juilliard. Hope just found out her boyfriend has been cheating on her.

“Hope?”

“Go away”

“Are you okay?”

“Does it look like I’m okay? My idiot ex-boyfriend has been cheating on me, mom and dad don’t care about me. I’m worthless.”

I start laughing. “What’s so funny?”

“You know, for being smart, you sure are dumb. I wasn’t expecting others to get it, but you? Wow”

“What?”

“I wrote a musical, you don’t think I also embedded a message into it? You basically played the message of the musical”

“Which is?”

“In simple terms, you aren’t worthless, there are people who care about you. The most important thing in life is to know that there is someone there, someone who cares if you are lonely, or heartbroken, or just broken in general. I care about you Hope.”

“Well, you wasted those years of your life. You don’t deserve me”

“Why not?”

“I’m not worth the time and effort”

“You know the same was said about me once. Look where I’m at, look where you’re at. You have a scholarship to Juilliard.”

“I care about you too?”

“What?” I answer, shocked. She kisses me and I kiss back, cliche.

“I’m not going to leave you, you deserve the best.” I tell her.

“Always?”

“And forever”

It isn’t the achievements that make your life, the awards. Those are just things that you admire, something you can build on. It’s the people that you meet along the way that makes the impact. I guess that’s what mom meant. 4 strings, but it only matters if you aren’t afraid to pour your soul into the instrument. Music without emotion is, well, robotic. If you don’t learn to play for yourself, you won’t be able to play for others. Thank you Mom, for everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Thanks for reading. I’ve had this idea in my head for weeks, originally it wasn’t thought of for any specific pairing, and honestly you could probably change the names and it would probably work. I wasn’t going to make this into a story, but whatever. This story would also stand better as a multi-chapter story to fill in the gaps, but I’m lazy. If you guys really want me to make this into multiple chapters, I just might, but for now it's just going to be a one-shot. I know this is a long shot, but if you want to write your own version of the story, message me first, I'll tell you if I'm going to write this out into a multi-chapter story to make sure that they don't clash. My discord is ms_boredom#0775. This story seems unfinished, because it is. And for those of you who read my other story, don't worry, I'll still post on Tuesday. Thanks for reading my rant.


End file.
